Will Smith's Oscars Acceptance Speech Isn't Winning Anyone Over After Scary Attack

The 94th Academy Awards gave the audience many memorable moments. With wins for Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur, and Jane Campion, the Awards had moments that will go down in the Academy's history. Despite these inspiring victories, Will Smith's aggressive confrontation with comedian Chris Rock will go down as the most memorable moment of this year's ceremony.

While well-rehearsed jokes, often at the expense of attendees, have long been a part of the Oscars ceremony, Rock's G.I. Jane joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, did not sit well with the "King Richard" star. Enraged by Rock's joke, Smith approached Rock on the stage and appeared to hit him (via Deadline). The incident shocked the audience and also drove several actors to later speak to Smith.

Then things got really juicy. Minutes after the confrontation, Smith — pegged as the frontrunner in the Best Actor category — actually won his first Oscar for his role as the father of Venus and Serena Williams, Richard Williams. Smith did not sidestep his violent behavior earlier when he was standing in front of the podium. 

The rambling and tearful speech that ensued isn't exactly winning him any fans — at least not on Twitter.

Smith began his speech by talking about how his character, Richard Williams, was a fierce "defender" of his family, and later explained that he himself has been called on by God to protect his own family. He also took a moment to apologize to the Academy and his fellow nominees for his outburst.

Toward the end of his speech, he attempted to lighten up the mood with a joke. "Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams," Smith laughed. "But love will make you do crazy things."

Despite his emotional speech, the Twitter world, which erupted after the incident between Smith and Rock, wasn't in the mood to forgive — at least not yet. @Lynette49003901 tweeted, "After will smiths acceptance speech he said what happened indirectly was real. But ... even if you don't like the joke, no one should be allowed to walk on stage and slap anyone without repercussion."

For equating his actions to that of Williams, his character, Smith faced additional flak. @samanthaafa tweeted, "Will Smith looks so dumb right now. And making his acceptance speech about his stupid actions is annoying. Richard Williams would have never."

The unexpected turn of events and Smith's actions definitely soured what would have been a sweet victory for the actor. Whether or not this incident will lead to any legal repercussions for Smith remains to be seen.